The Problem with Government

You're probably expecting some kind of political position post here, with supposedly Scriptural references to back it up. "Capitialism is awesome" or something. Well, you're right, sort of.

You see, I see a lot of arguments about the way government should be. You've got people arguing that what we need is less government. Let the people govern themselves. Then you've got people arguing we need more government to regulate the people. Both sides argue against the other side by pointing out "the human factor," the way that form of government can be corrupted by people. They then argue for their preferred form of government, conveniently leaving out the fact that humans also run that and corrupt it as well.

If you have small government, then you have people governing themselves. It's good to not have government intervention in every aspect of our lives. The problem, however, comes when people start deciding they can do whatever they want. They are free people, no one can tell them what to do! This leads to people doing bad things because there are no repercussions, no one to hold them accountable. People are corruptible. This is just what happens.

That, of course, is where laws and regulations come into play. We need those. The Bible says that the government is responsible for punishing wrongdoers and rewarding those who do good (1 Peter 2:13-14). Thus, the government is now bigger. But then it gets too big. It starts telling people how to spend their money. It tells people what their jobs will be, or how to live their lives. It forces people to surrender their hard-earned money, or to be defenseless. This is also just what happens.

The problem with each argument is that it selectively presumes on an inherent goodness in mankind. That is, man is evil in the other form of government, but good and right in whatever I prefer.

Here's the truth: mankind is inherently evil and corrupt. No matter which form of government you have, it will eventually be corrupted by people. We've seen it in the US. We've seen it in communist nations. The problem is the people.

What we need is something that changes hearts. What we need is a form of government run by a perfect, incorruptible, and absolutely good and just ruler. Can that be done by man's power? Has it ever been done by man's power? Historically, human institutions inevitably fail.

Our institutions, imperfect as they are, will not last. We need something that will. And in order for it to last forever, it needs to be perfect. It needs a perfect ruler who is perfectly good, who cares for his people perfectly. That doesn't sound like any mere human I know.